WE SHALL REAP WHAT WE SOW: THE REALITY ABOUT LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA

In a blessed country like Nigeria where majority of the leaders
are unconcerned about the plight of the masses, especially the
poor and downtrodden, my mind is filled with a lot of questions.

DO WE ACTUALLY VOTE FOR WHO WE WANT? Nigeria has a history of
elections rigging where our leaders are not a reflection of our
votes but my primary concern here is not the issue of elections
rigging but rather the candidates that are presented to us.

IF WE WERE TO THOROUGHLY ASSESS ALL THOSE ELIGIBLE TO CONTEST FOR
POLITICAL OFFICES, WILL THE CANDIDATES PRESENTED TO US STILL
EMERGE AS THE BEST OPTIONS? In order to successfully tackle our
leadership problems, we need to start from the roots. Political
parties conduct primary elections and present their “best
candidates” to us, not necessarily the best leaders within their
ranks. Based on a variety of factors, we end up voting who we
consider best amongst those presented to us by the political
parties. In other words, if five “Robert Mugabes” are presented
to us by political parties we’ll end up voting one Robert Mugabe
and we can all agree that is not a good thing. If the candidate
we vote for doesn’t live up to expectations, we become so
furious, we curse him and some of us even curse ourselves for
misplacing our votes.

After winning elections whether legitimately or otherwise, ARE
OUR LEADERS REALLY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE MASSES WHO VOTED THEM INTO
POWER? OR TO THE POLITICAL HIERARCHY WHO PRESENTED THEM AS THE
BEST CANDIDATES AND SECURED THEIR VICTORY? They can only try to
satisfy the masses within the limited means available to them
because their first duty is to satisfy those who made it possible
for them to be in power. If they decide to rule against their
political godfathers in favour of the masses, the masses will be
happy but their tenures might just be frustrated and in the end,
we will barely see any landmark success.

Taking a look at where it all starts from, my mind is filled with
more questions. DO POLITICAL PARTIES TRAIN LEADERS? OR DO THEY
JUST PRESENT INDIVIDUALS TO US? ARE POTENTIAL LEADERS PRESENTED
AT THE ELECTIONS? ARE THEY NATURAL BORN LEADERS? HAVE THEY BEEN
PROPERLY ASSESSED? BASED ON WHICH CRITERIA? Most of our
leadership problems arise from political parties that are
responsible for presenting candidates to the masses. I strongly
believe that from the moment a person registers to be a member of
a political party especially for those who register at a young
age, the party should start monitoring or investing in his growth
and training as a potential leader; it is not enough to have
different educational qualifications. Irrespective of the number
of degrees a person may have, without basic leadership skills, he
or she won’t be a good leader. Our political parties have
attainable objectives that have remained largely unattainable
mainly because of the kind of leaders they produce. They bear the
greatest burden of eliminating the leadership crisis in this
nation. If potential candidates with outstanding leadership
qualities are presented to voters and allowed to do their job
when they win the elections, even if the elections are rigged
we’ll still end up with a qualified candidate who can do a good
job. In other words, if five “Nelson Mandelas” are presented to
us at the elections, we’ll end up voting at least one “Nelson
Mandela”, which is still a good thing.

The leadership problem is the greatest obstacle we face in the
growth and development of this nation. We have half baked leaders
who are not qualified to be class monitors; pompous leaders who
cannot even rule themselves; selfish leaders who don’t care about
the people; charismatic leaders who have gone corrupt along the
way; visionary leaders whose visions have been swallowed by the
shady system. But if the entire leadership is willing to work
together in unity and steer this country in the right direction,
we will begin to see the change we need. We might enact laws,
amend them, create commendable policies, adopt international
standards but without the qualified leadership necessary to
implement them, the kind of leadership that is willing to
transform vision into realities for the good of all, we will keep
running around in circles.

In conclusion, we can only reap what we sow; we cannot vote a
“Robert Mugabe” into power and expect him to lead the people like
a “Nelson Mandela” would do. We cannot plant beans and expect to
harvest corn. Never!!!